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(Jan. 11, 2016, 4:55 p.m.) -- LBREPORT.com has learned that the group "Black Lives Matter" has surfaced in Long Beach.
The group has a public webpage up at this link as well as a closed Facebook page.
LBREPORT.com has learned that BlackLivesMatterLBC is planning its first action for 2016 for the upcoming MLK weekend under the theme "#ReclaimMLK" and has invited those who "identify as black" to a planning session for the upcoming MLK weekend action on one day, and those who are an "ally member" and "identify as non-Black" to discuss ways to support Black Lives Matter on a subsequent day.
[Scroll down for further.]
The group's public website states in pertinent part:
#BlackLivesMatter #LBC is a local organizing effort in Long Beach, CA, in solidarity with the national, U.S.-based, #BlackLivesMatter movement (read the herstory and love note). We are a Black-led organization that is queer, women, and working-class affirming and seeks Black liberation, and accordingly liberation for all people. Our demands are majority local, but tie-in to regional, national, and international organizing efforts by #BlackLivesMatter...
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The BlackLivesMatterLBC website lists a series of "demands" at this link that include:
[BlackLivesMatterlbc.org text]
Establish community-elected Community Oversight of the LBPD, similar to the Los Angeles Civilian Oversight Board recently won by a coalition of organizations with Dignity and Power Now; achieve justice for the 40+ families who have lost loved ones to LBPD violence and others who have suffered unwarranted harassment, detainment, and arrest by the LBPD.
Reasons:
* Can Long Beach’s cop commission really police the police? (Voice Waves, 2014)
* Running details on 40+ LBPD officer-involved homicides since 2000 (LA Times, 2015)
Black youth arrested 4 times as more than whites in Long Beach via Long Beach Press Telegram (Press Telegram 2014)
* Map and Info of Officer-Involved Shootings Throughout LA County, including Long Beach, Since 2009 (NBC 2014)
Stop the school-to-prison pipeline; provide human rights, decent housing, full employment, freedom, life, and social justice to all Black youth; in Long Beach, and support related, issue-based work with allied organizations.
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The website's "demands" page also lists a number of other causes and issues in California and the United States at this link..
